COVID-19 Level Three: First week

30 April: Today ends the strangest month any of us, probably on the plant, has ever experienced. The world seems to have become kinder, less frenetic and we have given nature some breathing space. We have been given a glimpse of a different world, one that is not dominated by commercialism. Don't get me wrong, I do not, for one minute, underestimate the traumas that COVID-19 has inflicted. Not just the deaths and ill-health directly and indirectly, though TG in New Zealand we have been spared the rates of the likes of the US, UK and others, or the social, mental health and economic issues that it has presented. But I just hope that we, as individuals, communities and nations, can take some learning from this. I for one plan hope to make some simple changes. I do not intend to hope in the car so often to 'pop' into Matamata, and I will be thinking twice before I make purchases. I have always tried to support local and small businesses and will certainly continue to do that. I have also enjoyed our evening walks. Eric has never been a great one for taking walks (well for the last 3 decades since he got shot in the thigh and has ongoing leg pain so I guess that's understandable!). Having said that, he does often go for one during his lunchtimes at work, just to get out the office really but, with being in the house all day every day he has been keen to go out for one after work. With the evenings are drawing in a little now we are having to leave earlier to get back before dark. They have been a real pleasure, if hard work on my knee. I have said repeatedly here that we have had stunning autumnal weather. This in combination with the time of day and no traffic (we cross a main, and in NZ terms 'busy' road) has meant we have really been able to enjoy the pastoral beauty of our surroundings. I have often spoken of the quality of the 'light' here in NZ. My sister-in-law on a visit from the UK described it as 'like viewing the world in HD (high definition)'. The evening, and sometimes setting, sun on (now green) fields and across the Hinuera stones has been breathtaking. One of those experiences that makes you feel like the most privileged person in the world, and unbelievably grateful for it.

This led me in to ponder on my year. 3-5 months stuck on my bum following the quad bike accident in which I broke my leg, many more months of limited mobility (ongoing at this point) and then the world turning up-side-down by COVID-19 has certainly made this one of the most exceptional ones to date.

Harriette returned to work today and was bored silly! At the coffee shop they are working on their own and for full days. Almost all of their customers are office workers and most are still working at home. Alice is job hunting. She saw her sister today but across the correct social distancing. On a shopping trip she stopped at Demi Urgos for coffee. Eric went for a drive!! He bought a metal lathe on Trade Me and went to pick it up from Ngarawahia (pronounced nara-wa-hea). I contemplated going with him but thought I could be much more productive staying here.

Today we planned out family reunion. Harriette was delighted with the brioche burgers she made recently and offered to cook them for us on Monday to have with the new Miss Fisher movie The Crypt of Tears. I know this was not strictly within the rules of level three but.... how can we extend our bubble to one daughter and not the other?

Lockdown done. First Day at Level Three

Tuesday 28 April 2020 marks the day life for many New Zealander's took a step towards resuming normality as we moved from level 4 to level 3 of pandemic management. The basic difference is that businesses can reopen if they can keep staff safe and maintain social distancing. That means dealings with customers must be contactless. The rule is still, if you can work from home stay home. For Eric this means he'll continue at home but a few of the staff who have not been able to work from home will return to the office. At a personal level households can extend their 'bubble' to one other bubble.

Eric had to go into the office to just ensure staff had everything they required to meet their COVID-19 health and safety policy and pick up some files. He said town was as busy as normal except there was no foot traffic.  The point at which it hit me was when we had our evening walk. The traffic on SHW29 which we cross was horrendous at 5pm. I totally resented this intrusion on my personal peace!! I think it was just a blip as it was quiet as 30 minutes later when we returned. No we did not walk that far, we got taking to a neighbour.

I spent the morning doing housework (which I don't count as productive) before heading outside for 'proper' work. I paint a small section of the house (the areas that required the most prep a week or two ago, locked the Plymouth Bard and chicks into the chook house while I removed the chook tractor and turned over the soil before putting everything back. Just to give her the chance to scratch a bit more and, hopefully, eat the oxalis bulbs which are the bane of my life. I put down the carpet sections I cut up yesterday and starting pulling the largest weeds up on the drive before spraying, hopefully tomorrow, it was too windy today. Finally I went through my raspberries that I have in pots and a 'holding bed' a bit more. I really want to get these planted this week. I have decided to mix the summer and autumn varieties into one row. I'll probably regret that but will look at separate ones another year. I just want to get them in! Continued with general tidying up. I think a bonfire is one the horizon. Ban lifted and lockdown done!

As of  9am today: New cases 3. Recovered 1,118. Total 1,472. Deaths 19. Matamata cluster total 76 cases.
Tests: yesterday 2,146. Total tests 126,066.

Lockdown Day 33: FINAL DAY!

Monday 27 April: As ANZAC Day fell on the weekend today is a public holiday. Eric spent it in the workshop moving kit around making Dollys to put the large pieces on so they were portable. All sounded very technical but kept him happy. Eric's workshop is so over-full of blokey 'stuff' that unless supremely organised (which it never is) it looks a mess. Hopefully over the next few months it will get a bit more organised!

Shelving unit added

The day was another stunner. Eric mowed the lawn and I spent much of the time 'organising'. Eric made some batons for me to secure the shelf unit against the side of the shed. OMG. What a palaver. I must have screwed and unscrewed various parts repeatedly. I think the spirit level lied intermittently! I eventually resorted to screwing the final screw into boot and shed in one as I could not get behind to unit to secure the baton. I now have to put some guttering up on the shed as water will pour straight on to my seedlings should it rain!

Behind this photo (make that behind the shed in this photo) is a slope that gets chewed up by the quad. I cut and laid down some old woollen carpet to protect the ground at the top where the quad bike makes a turn on to the drive. I measured up a couple of veg beds and cuts some pieces to cover them and used what was left for the slope.

I have been listening to different gardening podcasts. One suggested making a video diary to look back on your garden renovations so I started one today. First one? Carpet laying for gardens!

I have some echinacea seed heads that are incredibly prickly so have cut them off with some stem and now have them hanging up-side-down into a brown paper bag. The theory being that everything will eventually fall into the bag and I can sort the seeds out without shredding my finger tips. I have done the same with globe artichoke heads, one of which is the size of a dinner plate. I don't need more artichoke plants as I have heaps but just want to see if I can grow them from seed.

My hair, which I had cut short a few months ago was getting fluffy around my neck and, as getting a hairdressers appointment is impossible at the moment, I got Eric to trim the back for me. I must say he made a pretty good job of it.

Started watching NT Live's Twelfth Night tonight but I had to give up as I was falling asleep (tiredness not boredom!). Oliver Chris plays Orsino and Tasmin Grieg is stunning as Malvolia. Chris is one of those actors you can only see as one character, which is no reflection of his acting skills. I just always picture him as Nick from Bluestone 42, one of my favourite TV shows.


As of  9am today: New cases -1. Recovered 1,180. Total 1,469. Deaths 19. Matamata cluster total 76 cases.
Tests: yesterday 2,939. Total tests 123,920.

Lockdown Day 32: A not-so lazy Sunday

Sunday 26 April: A glorious day. I am running out of outdoor space to put seed trays (bearing in mind that the ground it out because of chickens). I had a couple of boxed cheap galvanised shelf units in the workshop so put one together which I will put next to the potting shed. No matter how many times counted spaces on the uprights I still managed to get a shelf lined up wrong - twice. I planted the last, and therefore smallest, of John's silverbeet and lettuce into pots in small clumps just to see what happens. I can give them away if they survive. I had 5 bulbs of garlic in the fridge that had started to sprout so stuck them in my alliums bed. Doubt they'll do much but won't know if I just chuck them in the compost.

Some of the veg plot resembles a dead forest with Jerusalem artichoke foliage close on 10' high so I pulled the last of them up. Between cabbage leaves, dead JA stalks and general tree trimmings I really need to take the quad and a large trailer round the place and collect everything up. It's perfect weather and my bonfire is huge but I thought we still had a fire ban. However, on talking to Richard and Robyn in our weekly video catch up Rich said that the ban was over and several fires were lit around their area. I have heard nothing and even checked the appropriate website  but there was nothing there. Apparently it was on the Matamata Community FB page. As a general principle of lockdown we should not be doing anything that could potentially generate 111 calls so I will be holding off fire burning until the winter I guess.

Three rows of carrots sown

I watched a video on the Roots and Refuge YouTube channel on a sure fire way to germinate carrot seeds which I tried. Planted a fish crop and all my old seeds. Same principle as the garlic!

Bl**dy Alice and her online Scrabble game. Totally addictive! We stopped for a break and a cup of tea this afternoon. Usually about 15 minutes and I was an hour playing Scrabble! Between Eric, Harriette and Alice I have five games on the go. It would be OK if they were busy and did not take their go straight away but.....

We had a spa this evening, first of the season and it was gorgeous. The evening mild, the skies clear, the Milky Way in it's full glory and a GnT in hand - absolute bliss. The two cabbage trees over the deck I bemoan the leaves falling from occludes a significant portion fo the sky. Another reason to take them out!

Finished the second series of Liar this evening. God it was a good one with so many twists and turns. Loved it.

Lockdown Day 31: Anzac Day

Saturday 25 April: This morning we would normally have been at a dawn parade. ANZAC Day's commemoration services are traditionally held at dawn to mark the time the Gallipoli campaign started on this day in 1917. It would have been a beautiful sunrise under which to observe it as we have had another gorgeous autumnal day. Really foggy mornings followed by lots of blue skies.

I cleaned our cedar wood spa and refilled it (bore water so allowed with current town water restrictions!) and had a general clean up of the pool deck. My collected pile of fallen cabbage tree leaves is huge so I must take them down to the bonfire, which we cannot light (national fire ban still in place). We have two big cabbage trees on the bank above the pool and I am fed up collecting the long this leaves they drop constantly.

Cleared some more of the veg patch and planted enough silverbeet and lettuce to feed an army if they all thrive, thanks to the small plants my neighbour John gave me. In return I gave him some of the cauliflower seedlings I have yet to plant up. I thought I had run out of potting compost but found a bag in the poly tunnel.

Alice is bored and has even resorted to online scrabble which we have been roped into. When we had sat for 30 minutes playing various games, long after I should have been back in the veg plot after lunch, I realised that whether such things are great boredom relief or time-wasters totally depends on your way of life!

Silky chicks in January

I have too many chooks and do not plan to feed them all through the winter. The silky (I have two silky hens) chicks born in early January seem to suddenly be almost full grown which has virtually doubled the size of the flock.

Eric had to do a supermarket run as I forgot dog roll and a few other bits. Sinking Otto's tablets into a piece of dog roll is the easiest way to get his many tablets in him twice a day so managing a week without any was not an option really.

I asked Eric to do some washing up while I was cooking supper then found him swirling items around in the bowl one-handed. I had forgotten about his finger!!

Keto fathead pizza for supper. This is usually a favoured meal but was not my best tonight. First time I put the base in the oven then realised I had missed out two ingredients. It was a disaster so had to remake which still did not come out well. My plate finished up with lots of hard crust on but disgustingly Eric ate all his!!

As of  9am today: New cases 5. Recovered 1,118. Total 1,456. Deaths 18. Matamata cluster total 76 cases.
Tests: yesterday 6,777. Total tests 115,015.

Lockdown Day 30:

Otto coming home from the vets

Friday 24 April: During lockdown we have been in no rush to get up in the morning. Eric starts work on emails etc and I blog, read and do Rotary work. We get up anything between 8and 9.30am. Susan the vet said she'd ring this morning to see how Otto is and she caught us out! We were still in bed so I had nothing to report! Shot out, well the way I walk that is a bit of exaggeration, to let them out their run. Otto was wobbly before I opened the door and ran on three legs dragging his right front one. Agreed he would go into the vets for another day on IV fluids which worked. We are assuming that, as with previous blood tests, his sodium is low causing these problems. Maintaining this level of vet
expenses is unsustainable and we have to change our approach or he is going to have to be put down. I am going to have another chat with the vet about increasing his dietary sodium, and by how much.

Still planting out cauliflower seedlings but spent most of the morning tidying up/organising garden stuff. I have been dumping stuff in the potting shed I want to store there but not actually planned where I want things.

I checked on Mom and Daddy's neighbour Audrey to see if she wanted shopping and she mentioned that she would love some broccoli and cauliflower plants but that she cannot get them, so I will do some for her and plant them in a few weeks in her veg garden.

Did the shopping, collected Otto then dropped Mom and Daddy's shopping off. I actually sat on the deck and had a cup of tea with them, them indoors and me outside. Very pleasant in the late afternoon sun. It was a gorgeous day and there were so many people out walking/cycling/chatting across gardens. There was actually a lovely feel about the place. So nice to see communities engaging.

Typical Cedar Lodge Friday night, Thai curry, GnT and TV. Started on second series of Liar. Knowing Deal, I still can't get my head around the scene locations!


As of  9am today: New cases 5. Recovered 1,095. Total 1,456. Deaths 17. Matamata cluster total 76 cases.
Tests: yesterday 6,961. Total tests 108,238.

Lockdown Day 29: St George's Day

Thursday 23 April: Had a terrible night driven mad by itching!!! Hand is swollen and itching goes all the way up my forearm.

Did a couple of hours work this morning.

Eric had to pop to the office (allowed now) and noticed that the cows, who are in the paddock next to the drive, had broken a fence rail so I fixed that. I needed to cut a piece of 6x2 which Eric would do with a chainsaw but I was reluctant to use one because it's ages since I last did and probably would do it wrong. With out current track record on injuries I'd probably perform a self-amputation! So, I attacked with a (blunt) saw as I could not be bothered to go in search of a newer one. While fixing it I as amused to watch a tiny, young Dexter bull mooning over a huge Hereford who is obviously on heat!! Trying to mount her must be like trying to leap-frog over a telegraph pole but that did not stop him trying. Bless him.

(Another) long chat with the vet over Otto as he is still unstable, intermittently, and a bit off colour. tried him with some beef broth to try and get more fluid and sodium in to him and increased both his steroids. Eric and I had another conversation about at what point we would put him down as this level of vet fees is unsustainable and we worry about his quality of life 😢

The cottage is overrun with daddy long-legs and cobwebs. I expect to see Mrs Haversham in there somewhere! Harriette emptied the bedroom and bathroom when she left but the living area is awaiting her return to clear out I have been collecting jars for preserving and these have just been stacked up I the kitchen. I made a start in the kitchen. I have never seen so many spiders!

No new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours 😃


As of  9am today: New cases 0. Recovered 1,065. Total 1,451. Deaths 16. Matamata cluster total 76 cases.
Tests: yesterday 6,480. Total tests 101,277.

Lockdown Day 28: Four weeks done, a few days to go

Wednesday 22 April: Today marks the last day of the planned lockdown before it was extended on Monday. On reflection, and ignoring the tragedy that coronavirus has been for so many people, I have quite enjoyed the last four weeks! We are privileged enough to have been able to enjoy the break from 'normal life' in stunning surroundings with space and fabulous weather, in a country with incredibly low numbers (because of a strong and transparent government that locked down and closed borders early) confident in a continued income. My worries are more long-term; how will Eric's firm weather the inevitable global recession and how will case numbers pan out in the post-lockdown/pre-vaccine era. We are also coming to terms with the fact that social distancing is going to be the norm until we get a vaccine.

Read in order! Thanks to sister-in-law Ava.

Continued work in the veg garden. Started preparing a bed for raspberries. I have a rambling overgrown and neglected patch of raspberries so want to move suckers from there and plant the canes I have bought over the last year into one or two sites. On putting a glove on from a pair in the poly tunnel I was stung on my pinkie by a bee that was in one of the fingers. God I hate bee stings! Despite antihistamine tablets and steroid cream I know it means 48 hours of intense itching through the hand and arm. Arrrggghhhh!

Otto's gait is wobbly again this evening and he is staggering. Also lost his appetite which probably means upping his steroids. Will speak to the vet tomorrow. Eric had to pop into town to get more ear drops for him.

A real doss evening. I was pooped. Another beautiful evening for our walk and had a chat with neighbour John. Watched and episode of Liar on TVNZ On Demand. Very unusual for us to watch TV  on a weekday evening.

Coronavirus numbers not available for today (I am not writing this contemporaneously) but they are dropping significantly here in NZ.

Lockdown Day 27: Where there's livestock there's deadstock

Tuesday 21 April: OK so chicks are not 'stock' but I was saddened to find 3 dead silky chooks this morning. I know I said one was looking ropey but all three! I have no idea why. The mites may be a factor, I just don't know. Released mom from her captivity. The PB chicks look bright as buttons, and very noisy!

I did my second shift on the 0800 IMMUNE phone line today. Well, after a series of pretty easy questions last week this time the first question had me searching for assistance. The child's history was very ambiguously documented and included vaccines not available in NZ at the time (the nurse clearly did not know her stuff. I am pleased to say the level of nurses knowledge around vaccines has improved hugely on the last 15 years). I ran it by colleagues who said I should refer to our medical officer for the day, a Starship paediatrician (Starship is our paediatric hospital in NZ) who I had not spoken to for ages so was good to catch up. All in all this took 4 phone calls, a team chat and two hours to sort out. The curly questions are great!!

Had a productive few hours in the veg plot planting up a small section of the poly tunnel with brassicas; pak choy, silverbeet and cabbage. Attended a Zoom Rotary meeting early evening. Great to be joined by some International exchange students we have hosted in recent years. One from Chile this week and a young Matamata Rotarian living in the UK. We must take our Tuesday walks at lunchtime as I keep forgetting about Rotary meetings!

Lockdown Day 26: D Day

Monday 20 April: I am sure the nations conversations today were dominated by "Will she. Won't she" until 4pm and then discussion of the consequences thereafter. I am referring to cabinet's lockdown decision announced today. My money was on a two-week extension at level 4. I was half right (almost!). It has been extended for 5 days. Monday is a stat holiday (for ANZAC Day on Saturday) so only 2 working days but it extends our protection for another 5 days.

Life at Cedar Lodge will, in effect, be no different. Level three says that business can re-open as long as they can observe the 2m rule and instigate health and safety measures to keep their employees and clients safe. But "If you can work from home, continue to do so". For Eric, that means they can go to the office to collect things etc (they could not up to now) and indeed a couple of them can work there (those that cannot work from home) but otherwise working arrangements will remain as they currently are. I have him at home for another three weeks which suits me. I am really going to miss him when he goes back! I think the girls might come home for a few days which is OK as some social engagement is allowed, in effect extending our bubble. One of the most interesting points was that in the random testing undertaken in cluster areas (including Matamata supermarkets) no additional cases had been found. Wow!

I am happy with all that and I think it is the right decision. New Zealand has some of the lowest rates/100,000 in the world and a transmission (R0) rate of 0.48. Anything below 0 means the disease is waning. I think in the UK it is around 2.5 currently. Jacinda has elimination in her sights and I think we may well do this. NB elimination does not mean 0 cases, it means zero spread.

Back on a micro-level, I had a productive day today. I had experimented with wool carpet, covering one veg bed several months ago and today pulled some of it back, loosened the soil, added fertiliser and planted some strawberry plants from a bed I am planning to de-commission. I also planted some strawberry runners in pots a few weeks ago which I will put in a block next to this one to see which produces the most strawberries next summer.  One of the three silky chooks is not looking too flash, lethargic and not bothered when I picked her up.

I have multiple old medicine pots lying around with saved seeds in and have been meaning, for just about forever, to make some proper seed packets. Well I actually got round to this today. After several hours of playing with Word formatting this is what I have so far. I tried cutting brown paper to A4 but, as expected, it would not lay flat enough to go through the printer most of the time so need to buy some in A4 size. Next to experiment with sizes.

Seed packet template

The smaller cows are getting through the electric fence, they are currently in the three front paddocks and doing that 'the grass is always greener' thing. On investigation I found that the wire fencing all laying down (I was renewing some fencing in the week before I broke my leg last August and the old fencing, which we thought was powered by a separate portable unit, now disconnected) was in fact powered by the main unit and so we were loosing power into the ground. This meant a huge leak in the system. So, Eric inserted a circuit break. Hopefully the buggers will stay where they are put now.

While working there we found some liquid amber saplings which I will go and rescue tomorrow. Looking around that area it's a real mess, the yucca has gone mad, olive stumps have regrown, the elephant ears is taking over as are some other unknown but unwanted plants. I really need a massive clear up down there.  Just another area to add to the list!!

As of  9am today: New cases 9. Recovered 974. Total 1,440. Deaths 12. Matamata cluster total 76 cases.
Tests: yesterday 3,081. Total tests 86,305.

Lockdown Day 23

Friday 17 April: Got some stories from a fellow Rotarian today so spent some time editing and adding to the Rotary Matamata website for which I am the web master. It's a job I enjoy but I wonder how many people read it. I must have spent hundreds of hours on the content!

I have new chicks! The silky that had been sitting on eggs in the nesting box that I have put on a raised bed with the Plymouth Bard in the adjoining run. I threw together a run to confine her and so now it is configured like this.

Plymouth bard run with nuc box / chock house with two side doors / Silky run

Silky with three chicks one-day old

Lockdown Day 22: Shopping hell

Thursday 16 April: The start of week four. Shopping this week had been put off. Partly because I did not need much, partly because Monday was Easter and Thursday Otto needed a blood test so kill two birds with one trip and shop today. Dropped Otto off and said I'd be about and hour and half. I wish! At the supermarket I grabbed a trolley and then saw a sign saying text 332 with Mata19 and return to the car. Did this and went to wait. And wait. Needed a wee and drove into town. Came back. Still no text. Checked sign and phone to see that I had sent the correct text. Should I go and ask? No, don't bother the poor staff. Just be patient. Well after an hour I thought it reasonable to go and ask. As I approached the entrance there was a white board with "Average wait 25 mins". Turns out I had texted 322!! Apparently, on the sign round the other side of the store it says that you get a confirmatory text, but not on the sign I read. And, lots of people were making the same mistake. So, my question was, why do they not put this information on both the signs. Anyway I was bumped to the front of the queue and got started. An hour and a half later I was going to rush to collect Otto when I realised that the back of the car was packed with Mom and Daddy's shopping so, I dropped their's off and finally went to pick Otto up.  I think Susan had been quite happy with his company!!  Since when did a supermarket shop take 3 and half hours! Finally got home to a very welcome cup of tea. Not minding lockdown but will be glad when the shopping returns to normal.

Lockdown Days 19-21

13 April: Easter Monday. Not a lot to report. Temperatures are dropping, rain has arrived and so the day was spent indoors cleaning and sewing. Started to make Eric's long sleeved shirts into short sleeved ones. Started watching The Capture. Gripping with so many twists. Makes you wonder what is really real in these days of CCTV.

Tuesday 14 April: Back to work for some. The University of Auckland has a holiday on Easter Tuesday so I don't start work until tomorrow. Intermittent rain and sunshine and much cooler today so I lit the Rayburn for the first time this year! Attacked the living room for a massive 'autumn' clean. Had to pop into town to pick up a script and get it dispensed. I'm putting off the weekly shop until Thursday when I have to take Otto in for his second toxo blood test.





Otto used to run off a lot. About a year ago I got a GPS tracker for him and although it was not terribly successful it did help a bit. Recently he lost his collar, luckily he was not wearing the tracer at the time, just the unit to hold it. When he got sick with Addison's Disease his roaming stopped but he has recently taken to an evening sojourn! Probably heads over the road to see his mate Jet on the stud, which is about .7km door-to-door. I duct-taped the tracker to him (not literally to him, I meant to his collar!) and we started closing the gate at the drive entrance again. He has been pretty good at coming back when called, particularly if I can track/catch him just before he leaves the property but often have to go out looking for him on the quad bike, especially if the signal drops. How he gets out has always been a mystery. He is no jumper and I could never see marks indicating he had slid under the gate. However, tonight when I went looking for him he was lying patiently on the wrong side of the gate. Here he is clearly waiting for me to open it! It took some persuading before he slid under to come back. At least now I know his escape route. Unfortunately the drive is slightly sloped so I can't attach anything to the bottom of the gate to stop this. I am at a loss as to what I can do.

Wednesday 15 April: End of third week of lockdown and around the world countries are talking about, or actually beginning, a reversal of the process. Denmark opened kindies (pre-schools) and Italy opened some shops. While it is fantastic that NZ has so few cases and deaths I do wonder about how we will cope with a return to normal. Almost no-one has any immunity and we know that people can be infectious while not symptomatic therefore can spread disease without knowing it.

Worked for a couple on the 0800 immune helpline today. I actually really enjoyed it!


As of 9am today: New cases 18 (our lowest daily increase in ages but less testing). Recovered 471. Total 1,330. Deaths 4. Matamata cluster total 70 cases (first day with no increase).
Current testing: yesterday 2,421 (less because of Easter). Total tests: 61,167.

Lockdown Day 18: Easter Sunday

Doesn't look much but this is hours of work!

12 April: That word again. House-painting. So much loose paint on this section I had to dig out the electric belt sander after using the scraper. I was determined to get the undercoat on before tonights predicted rain. I am working my way round the house in manageable chunks then will do the second coat in one hit for each side of the house. As rain is predicted for most of the next 10 days this is going to be a long job. In addition, the flowerbed around the house is going to need some serious additions/work once all this is finished!

I'm listening to Jane Eyre as I go, which I thought I had read but apparently I have not. The Jane Eyre audiobook was prompted by the NT Live showing of the same story which I started watching tonight. I think this is the first NT Live performance that I have not enjoyed. In fact I gave up on it half-way through. I can't really be sure why that was. It was a minimalist production, which I usually enjoy and the acting was fine. It just did not do it for me so I'll stick with the book.

Feeding out hay at the moment (as opposed to silage) and because of Eric's incapacity it's down to me. Climbing up a hay stack in the barn is a bigger challenge than usual and the wood splitter sitting in the path of where I would park the quad bike does to help. On one of these rainy days I may spend some in the barn rearranging things. The main problem is the rolls of wool carpet I retrieved to cover my (veg) beds with takes up so much room on the floor. Actually a rainy day is probably not a good idea as I'll need to put stuff out on the grass to make room to work.

This must be the first Easter in decades that I have not made a simnel cake. Well with us doing keto, no-one else at home and no visitors, there did not seem to be any point. Our one concession to Easter was a Cadbury's caramello egg each, and an extra evening GnT. Actually the chocolate was a disappointment. I would rather have had a piece of cheesecake I think, though not very Easter-y. We did have roast leg of lamb though which in hindsight was a lot of lamb to cook for just two people. Normally the girls would be here for Easter Sunday!


As of 9am today: New cases 18 (our lowest daily increase in ages but less testing). Recovered 471. Total 1,330. Deaths 4. Matamata cluster total 70 cases (first day with no increase).
Current testing: yesterday 2,421 (less because of Easter). Total tests: 61,167.

Lockdown Day 17:

Saturday 11 April: A sad day in our family's calendar. 46 years ago today when I was 13, my brother Edwin drowned aged eight years. Inevitably I reflect on how life would have been different for us all. The brother/son we missed growing up with, the sister/daughter-in-law and nieces/nephews/ grandchildren we did not have. The life Edwin was deprived of, the pleasure he would have given, and the times I am sure he would have been a pain in the arse! What I would not give to have them all. Of course every day during this pandemic, so many more families are losing loved one prematurely. Sad reflections.

Here we woke to another beautiful day! The day can be summed up in the word 'house-painting' - is that one word?? I cannot believe that in two weeks all I have done is paint the side of the bedroom extension and, our conclusion is it needs another coat! How tedious is this. (Do rhetorical questions warrant a question mark?)

The silky was wedged between the nuc box and wire in hiding from the PB when I checked them today. I got her back to her nest but when I lifted the lid (she's in the laying box) she made a run for it. I had to block off the run and open the other door for her to return. But, I noticed the eggs were crawling with mites - Ewwwww. I inspected further and found the hay, box etc were teaming with them. In addition I got them on my hands and for the rest of the afternoon had tactile hallucinations of tiny things crawling on me. At the first opportunity I got in the bath (showering remains a struggle for me) and immersed myself totally until I was convinced any remaining (there probably were none), had drowned! God I hate mites, and rats come to that. (Note to self, I must fill the bait stations now the weather is cooling). My quandary now is what to do? Normally I would water blast the chook house, pour boiling water over affected areas and treat the chooks but that will probably cause the mom to abandon the eggs. I'll have to do some research.

Pizza in front of the TV (Outlander) tonight. When the children were young, in the winter we used to get the TV and video player out the cottage and we would watch a movie while eating pizzas. A huge treat for us all as it was the only meal not eaten at the table in that era. Sunday morning the TV would be returned.

I thought series on Netflix and Neon were always complete. I did not realise that they add episodes in real time. I could not believe it when it ended with Roger hanging from a tree and the next episode was not there. OK so I know what happens next but the series diverts from the book so one can't be sure.


As of 9am today: New cases 29. Recovered 422. Total 1,312. Deaths 4 (that's doubled, two both over 70 years. Matamata cluster total 70 cases.
Currently testing 3,061 today. Total tests: 58,749.

Lockdown Day 16: Good Friday

From our bedroom window looking SSE

Friday 10th April: Two days ago we had a supermoon but it was so cloudy I could not even see we had any moon. Today however it was breathtaking. You need to imagine the sounds of the crickets and cicadas that accompanied the moon. It really was one of those 'God, Mother Nature is amazing' moments. I forgot the feed the cows after lunch and so they didn't get fed until about 5pm which is when the daytime photo was taken, leaning on our boundary gate looking across the Hinuera valley. Eric had wanted to empty and refill the spa which I did not get round to doing but seeing this wish I had!

Looking west from our boundary

While I was busy Oscar kept Eric company!

I had quite a productive day today. I undercoated the sanded down patches on part of the house. I was going to start painting later but a big afternoon sleep meant that got put off to tomorrow! Instead I spent the last few hours of daylight making a base for a second chook tractor then in the poly tunnel. I staked up and fed my six capsicum plants. They had been under adjoining tomato plants that had been left to roam. Removed the last few weeds and cleared potting tables of clutter and tools. At one point I was lured outside by a chick chirping three times louder than usual. She had escaped and was distraught at not being able to get back to mum.   I was amazed at how such a little thing make so much noise? The silky chook in the house came off her nest and got into trouble with the PB asserting her authority. Watching chooks you can see where the term 'pecking order' comes from. Managed to get some food and water before she retreated back to her nest. I am thinking I might put the second chook tractor on the other side of the house which has doors on both sides. I am going to start watering the poly tunnel again to see if any couch grass survived the herbicide before planting anything in there. I just need to find some way to fix the hoops to stop them leaning over every time the wind blows (they cannot fall down as they are linked by nylon wire).


The evening was occupied with a live streaming of the NZ Ballet's Midsummer Night's Dream. I love NZ Ballet and, before Founder's Theatre in Hamilton was closed because it does not comply with earthquake building standards, subscribed to and watched most of their performances. Casting was a problem so could not watch the start well but settled in to a most enjoyable performance. Thanks to Harriette for the heads up. I also let my ballet-mad friend in South Africa know and was pleased she was able to watch. I had wondered if, like the BBC, it was limited to a region and she would not be able to access it without a VPN, which would have been way beyond her tech levels!!

As of 9am today: New cases 44. Recovered 373. Total 1,283. Deaths Our second death, a women in her 90's. Matamata cluster total 69 cases.
Currently testing 3,700/day (7-day av). Total tests: 55,685.

Lockdown Day 15: Don't try this at home

Before: the least grisly photo!

Thursday 9 April: Today Eric went to some extreme to escape lockdown. He had an altercation with the (corrugated iron) barn door. The wind blew it closed on him and he nearly lost the top of his right middle finger as a result through the middle of the nail down to the bone. At the local medical centre we were greeted by a staff member in PPE, booked in by a receptionist behind a perspex screen, triaged by a nurse with a surgical facemark on and treated by a doctor who wore nothing (not literally, you know what I mean!). I sat bravely through the grisly procedure where Eric's nail was removed and the nail bed and finger was stitched. So, as well as restricted by lockdown he now can't even work around the place. Crap timing as well, the start of a 5-day weekend!! I was hoping we would make great progress on the house painting but obviously not!

And so, as the third week of lockdown starts so does the Easter weekend. As with the UK we have gorgeous weather. The tradition in NZ is that this weekend is the last at the bach (holiday home) for the summer. Obviously this should not happen this year and the police have started setting up roadblocks to check on the reason for peoples movements. In Murchison camper vans were turned round and sent home to Christchurch, nearly 300km away. Why do these people think that the rules don't apply to them?, do they think that they are immune to coronavirus, that they cannot spread this virus?? Perhaps they could volunteer their bodies to medical science so we can all learn their secrets.

As of 9am today: New cases 29 (lowest since the rise began). Recovered 317. Total 1,239. Deaths 1.
Matamata cluster 64 total cases.

Lockdown Day 14: Halfway there??

Wednesday 8 April: Week two just about done. Hopefully we are halfway through our lockdown. On reflection this is the most bizarre time any of us has lived through but life for us in our bubble is not too different. It's just when we step off the property that you realise that this is a real world at the moment. The contrast is quite surreal.

Lockdown Day 12: PB chick number three!

Plymouth barred in her re-purposed 'nuc'

Monday 6 April: OK Richard I was wrong! I said that once a chicken left her nest with her hatchlings then the remaining unhatched eggs would not (hatch that is). I was wrong. Went to feed the 'maternity coop' occupants and found a third chick. Apparently the mom must have continued to sit on the eggs even though they seem to be spread out somewhat. Anyway, I'm happy. Hopefully with being confined, as opposed to the normal free range wanderings of the rest of our chooks, the babies will be safe from hawks and Otto who has taken to running into the chooks and guinea fowl, but catching and killing a chick occasionally. As he doesn't do anything with them once they are dead I assume he is doing it for the fun of watching them scatter!!

Monday is shopping day and I was trying to find excuses not to go but decided I should stick to the routine. I probably could have got away with going but Mom and Daddy had a long list so... Despite being mid-afternoon the queue was the usual 10-15 minutes but the shopping was hard work. I had two lists as photos on my phone. I will get better organised next week and write them out as one before I go. I also tend to write my list in the same order as I find the products in the store (well as best I can, New World Matamata changed its layout during my broken leg 'isolation' and I still have yet to get to grips with it fully). Is that really anal??? I needed two trolleys to get said shopping to the car which I got help with. The assistant was relieved for an excuse to get out of the store, it was after all a beautiful day. Then everything had to be packed into bags as you can no longer take bags into the store. A further effort to reduce cross infection.

I drove home with Eric offering tea when I texted. My preference was for gin but being still afternoon as opposed to evening thought we had better go for our daily walk first - then a gin. This evenings walk (maybe I could have had the gin first. No. No. I was afternoon when we left) was extended beyond the usual 'one more lamppost' and I managed almost 2km. The last few hundred metres was bit of a struggle though with pain through the middle of the knee joint. We stopped for a long chat with Pam, a neighbour I haven't seen in many months, so the sun was setting by the time we were heading back. The sky was stunning and I have never seen its colours change so rapidly. This pink had virtually disappeared by the time we had taken another 20 paces.

A late supper of pork chops. God I love pork! Can't wait for the time we get pigs again and we started watching Deadwater Fells on TV1 On Demand, a real 'did he, didn't he'

As of 9am today: New cases 67. Recovered 176. Total 1,106. Deaths 1.
Matamata cluster total 58 cases.
Currently testing 2,846/day (7-day av). Total tests: 39,918.

Lockdown Day 11: Second weekend

Sunday 5 April: House painting. Tackling the one side of the house that got missed last time we painted and is seriously long overdue. I somehow thought we could have got this job done in a weekend. Well that was a delusion. In fairness I had planned to water blast it during the week but that did not happen. As it was I spent much of the weekend soaked. The press washer hose has a leak near the handle and the angle at which it sprays out hits me right at my waist line. It was too hot to wear wet-weather gear so I just stayed wet. Eric is adamant that we have a second hose but a Sunday morning search of could not track it down. I'm not convinced we have one! I had to clear all the garden foliage to make a 'path' in front of the woodwork and ended up taking there small trailer loads of rubbish to the bonfire, which remember we cannot light. Once I get a water blaster in my hand I just cannot stop and ended up water blasting the front of the cottage and under the covered deck. It looks sooo much better. Needless to say not a bit of paint made it's way to the boards this weekend and next have to sand everything down. I don't mind painting but I hate the prep which seems to be 80% of the job.

This is the time of year when Oscar and Otto put on weight. The walnuts are falling off the tree that dominates our little lawn and the sound of walnut crunching as they feast on them feels almost constant, like the cicadas of a few weeks ago. This rooster is smart. He follows, particularly Otto, around feasting on the scraps.

On Saturday Eric went down to the barn, which sits next to my veg plot and came back reporting that we had two chicks. News of a birth on the block is always a great highlight for me. OK so I know chicks are not birthed but you know what I mean! Two chicks is a 100% improvement on the Plymouth barrels last hatching of one.

To protect the chicks I decided to commission the new chook tractor. Not quite finished but I decided it was usable. Problem was the silky sitting on the clutch in the chook house had gone walkabout so I had to separate the house from run/chook tractor blocking off the end of the run with mom and chicks in so the silky could find her way back to her eggs in the nesting box. Once achieved I put the two together. Viola. One maternity coop up and running.

Except.... on Sunday the silky was out again but I found a gap where some unwired netting had fallen away. Silky retrieved and patch repaired all good now. I was thinking of making some changed to the run but difficult while trying to house occupants so I am not thinking of it as a prototype and will make a second one with improved spec.

A snapshot of lockdown activities this week:

As of 9am Sunday: New cases 89. Recovered 156. Total 1,039. Deaths 1.

Lockdown Day Eight: One week down, three (at least) to go.

Thursday 2 April: So Otto is sick. When we let him out from his pen this morning he collapsed with splayed legs and could not get up to walk. I rushed in to get my phone to video him for the vet and he got up and walked normally! He had another few attacks and on auscultating his heart it was irregular and dropping beats. After several chats with the vet during the day we took him in. Luckily he had another attack there so they witnessed it. His bloods weren't too bad but he is dehydrated so staying overnight for IV fluids (again). He is proving challenging to the vet and our next step is a toxoplasmosis check.



We ordered avos and topped up our gin supplies online for the first time. Both arrived today - Hurray!

Did a few hours work in the morning and when I dropped Otto off at the vet this afternoon I dropped off a few supplies to Mom and Daddy. Took them from here rather than go to the supermarket. I am really trying to keep the supermarket shopping to a minimum. Also dropped in the meals I cooked and froze yesterday.

The NZ news today has been focused on those arseholes that are ignoring the lockdown, particularly in the far north. Idiots saying on camera "Yeah we have a party every night here" or "Yeah I come into town every day to see my mates". Honestly, the intelligence of some people!! In Australia they are being very strict with fines and even jail time but here I think they are just ramping up the response.

As of 9am today: New cases 89. Recovered 92. Total 797. Deaths 1. Matamata cluster total 45 cases.

Currently testing 1,835/day. Total tests: 26,015.

Lockdown Day Seven: April Fools Day

Wednesday 1 April: Bit concerned about Otto today who seems to be listless this evening. The dogs did have a big feed on some rabbits that Eric shot at lunchtime so we did not expect him to eat dinner but he even refused his tablets which we tuck into a piece of meat roll, and he loves. I had to stick them in the back of his throat to get them down him.

I had a really long chat with friend Nicky in the UK on her 60th birthday and Helen and Paul who visited as last year. As a result I did not get up until about 10am which put my whole day out. Spent the morning making shepherds pies and bolognese sauce to freeze for Mom and Daddy. I did a few hours work and generally pottered in the afternoon. At 5pm we had a Rotary committee meeting by Zoom, as a result we took a rain check on our evening walk.

Started watching Thirteen which we are thoroughly enjoying.

As of 9am today: New cases 61. Recovered 82. Total 708. Deaths 1.